The following are some suggestions taken from an article in American
Swimming Magazine, titled “Eat to Win”:

 

1) When you compete you burn carbohydrates. Any time you are going at maximum effort you are using
the anaerobic system, which can only be fuelled by carbohydrates. In a meet you need to re-load with carbs,
not with fats like those in onion rings, french fries, potato chips and donuts. If you are eating fatty, deep-
fried foods then the ability for sustained anaerobic activity will be diminished. You cannot produce the
energy fast enough from fat breakdown. Fat breakdown is much slower than carbohydrate breakdown.

 

2) Eat complex carbohydrates during the meet. These have the vitamins and minerals that serve as “spark
plugs” that convert food into energy. Some examples of complex carbs are pastas, cold cereals, pancakes,
waffles, bagels, English muffins, and rice. Simple carbohydrates are those high in sugars, like soft drinks,
candies, and desserts, and they lack the vitamins and minerals that provide the critical food-to-energy
conversion.

 

3) One good pre-competition meal is not going to make you, but one bad pre-competition meal can
break you! You must consume an adequate amount of carbohydrates (60%), fats (25%) and proteins (15%)
all week long. Eating garbage Monday through Friday then having pasta on Friday night before the meet
does not work. What your body uses on Saturday is dependent on what you put in it the week before.

 

4) The pre-competition meal should be 60-70% complex carbohydrates. The more time you have before
your session, the more you can eat. But remember, you want to go into competition with the fuel tank full
and your stomach empty. You want the blood flow to be going to the muscles, not to the gut.

 

5) Drink on schedule. 8 ounces every 20 minutes, or 32 ounces per hour. If you wait until you are thirsty
you have become dehydrated, and you have lost as much as 10-20% of your performance ability.

For sustained activity of less than 1 hour water is fine, more than 1 hour and the carbohydrates in sports
drinks will help you sustain the effort.

 

6) The recovery meal at the meet, lunch after prelims or dinner after finals, is the pre-competition
meal for the next session. This should happen no later than 2 hours after the conclusion of the session.

In the meantime, if you need to wait for your brother who is still is racing, or you’re just not that hungry after
your race, then drink a nutrient-dense, high-carbohydrate beverage.

 

NUTRIENT-DENSE, HIGH CARBOHYDRATE RECOVERY FOODS & BEVERAGES

(good for on-deck, during your session):

Fruits and fruit juices (orange, cranberry); Gatorade; raisins; pasta; bagel; banana; cereal